I am NOT a pet
by sapphireheart22
Summary: Sesshomaru is a pup. His father takes him hunting, and they pass a human village. There they meet Jay, a blind girl who isn't human or demon. What happens when Sesshomaru claims her as his "pet"? T for safety
1. Rainy Days

Jay's POV

Jay lay under her blankets, listening blankly to the sounds of the rain pattering against the roof of the shed where she lived and the small squeaks that came from the four tiny kittens suckling from their mother, who was lying next to her ear. Her old dog, Tahoi, was sleeping in one corner of the shed, wheezing a little as he breathed.

On any other day, Jay would have been out in the forest or talking to the villagers, but rain tended to make her sleepy. So she stayed beneath her blankets, listening to the thunder rolling in the distance. She yawned once, and the mother cat let out a throaty purr, completely content. She knew that Jay would rouse herself long enough to feed her animals, completely neglecting her own appetite. It was routine during the rainy season.

The purr of the mother cat's purr was more than enough of a lullaby for Jay. She quietly drifted off to sleep, listening to the cat care for her kits…

Sesshomaru's POV

Sesshomaru hated the rain. In fact, he hated any water in general except for if he was drinking or bathing in it, but rain always made him short-tempered. It meant staying inside for days until the mud dried up. Waiting to get permission to go outside required patience—something that the Inu pup didn't possess much of. And it was even worse since his father had decided to take him hunting as soon as the weather improved.

Hunting with his father was always exciting, and even though he wasn't old enough to bring down the prey himself, he enjoyed stalking the prey through the forest and watching his father dispatch it with one quick bite to the neck.

Sesshomaru glared out the window, mentally wishing that the rain would stop so that his father would be free to take him hunting. A sharp rap on his knuckles brought him back to reality with a jolt. His Sensei was standing in front of him, staring disapprovingly at the young lord. "How are you supposed to learn if you don't pay attention?" Sensei demanded, stopping in the middle of the mathematics lesson to scold his pupil.

Sesshomaru didn't reply. He only spoke to members of his family and the servants who worked in the stables and tended Ah-Un. He had never spoken to Sensei directly, and he didn't plan on doing so anytime soon. Sensei was very irritable, and even more annoying. He was always eavesdropping on Sesshomaru and his father's conversations and slighting Sesshomaru's mother. He turned back to ignoring Sensei as soon as the old youkai turned his back. Right now, all he wanted to do was imagine himself hunting with his father.

Jay's POV

A low growl in her ear woke Jay from her near-constant slumber. Tahoi was crouched by her head, clearly very irritated. Jay, having known Tahoi for a number of years, knew exactly what he wanted. She staggered to her feet and made her way towards the barrel where she kept the raw animal meat that she purchased from the butcher two days ago. The weather was so chilly that it didn't spoil, and Jay fed Tahoi two handfuls of meat, leaving one handful for the mother cat, before slipping between her blankets again and finally opening her eyes.

She was met with pure darkness. Being blind wasn't so horrible to Jay. She knew the whole village like the back of her hand, and with her acute sense of hearing, she knew when people were coming and going. She could even hear when the village girls got together at the well and gossiped about her.

She reached out a hand and, guiding herself by hearing, stroked the mother cat's flank. She had long ago named this cat Poppy, for the patch of poppy flowers that Jay had found her in. Her kittens would need names, but Jay could worry about that later. Right now, all she wanted to do was sleep.

**Well, hope ya like it. I wrote this story for my sister because she was begging me to write an Inuyasha fic about Sesshomaru, so I decided to make it where Sesshomaru is a pup and he meets a human. I did it just to annoy her… Please Read and Review.**


	2. Fighting Lessons

Chapter Two

Jay's POV

The sound of branches rattling against the side of her shed woke Jay. "Wake up, Jay, you dormouse!" she heard someone yell. It was Sachi, her only friend in the village. Jay opened her eyes. The sound of rain had stopped, and she sighed as she hauled herself to her feet and changed from her sleeping clothes to the plain kimono that Sachi's wife had sewn for her. Tahoi was growling because of the noise, and Poppy's kittens were squealing.

"You can stop shaking the bushes," Jay called out as she slammed the door open. "I'm awake now."

"Finally," Sachi grumbled as he lumbered to the front of the shed. "I was about to come in there and drag you out by your feet. It's time for training, lazy bones. Look alive."

"I'm coming," Jay replied simply, letting Tahoi pad outside before closing the door. Jay and Sachi taught fighting every morning before the village boys began their chores. Sachi showed them how to fight with weapons, and Jay showed them how to fight hand-to-hand combat. She hadn't yet met a village boy who could beat her. It was a short walk from Jay's shed to the field where they taught fighting, but Jay's feet were muddy by the time they reached it. Most villagers wore straw sandals, but Jay never wore shoes. She didn't like the way they felt on her feet.

"I'll take the older boys this morning," Sachi growled. "I caught one of them trying to steal from the butcher. I'll teach him a lesson today. He'll be so sore he won't be able to raise his arms for a week." Jay chuckled. Sachi would tan the boy's hide with a bamboo pole. "All right!" Sachi bellowed. "Older set with me, younger set with Jay! Let's see if you've learned something yet!" The village boys scrambled to obey. The younger boys crowded around Jay, while the older ones reluctantly followed Sachi.

Taking a deep breath, Jay said calmly, "Try and get me."

Sesshomaru's POV

The weather was finally turning nice. The ground was still muddy, but it had finally stopped raining all the same. Sesshomaru pulled a brush through Ah and Un's manes, preparing him for the journey to the hunting grounds. His father was already saddling his dragon, named Tsume. Tsume was old and stiff, but Sesshomaru's father refused to ride any other dragon, and Tsume wouldn't have let him anyway.

"Behave on this journey," Sesshomaru ordered Ah-Un sternly. "Or we'll all be in trouble again." Ah and Un chirped in unison. Sesshomaru took it as an agreement. The stable master was saddling him because Sesshomaru still wasn't old enough.

"And I'll have a few juicy steaks awaiting your return," he promised them. Ah-Un purred happily, turning their heads to appraise the stable master with critical eyes.

Sesshomaru's father laughed. "Bribe the beasts," he chuckled, mounting Tsume. "Are we ready to set out, Sesshomaru?" he added, glancing at his son. Sesshomaru quickly climbed into the saddle and nodded. His excitement soared as his father led them out of the stables and into the courtyard.

Jay's POV

By the time the lessons ended, Jay didn't have a scratch on her. The village boys, however, were covered with bruises and soaked through with sweat by the time Sachi bellowed, "Alright! Time for chores and work, not fun and games!"

"You call this fun?" Jay heard one of the boys mutter as they slunk away towards the village.

"It could be worse," she threatened them quietly. "Sachi and I _could_ make you run the field for five minutes. So I'd quit complaining if I were you."

"How did she hear that?" the boy squeaked.

"Jay has the ears of a bat," one of them said darkly. "Come on. Mama will be expecting us in the fields."

"Great job today," Sachi growled approvingly. "I saw you busting heads. You were vicious today. This'll teach those soldiers not to come near our village again."

Jay nodded. "You should take a dip in the pond before you go home," she said, sniffing. "You smell like blood. Who'd you crack open?"

"The boy who was stealing." Sachi cursed. "The fool tried to outmaneuver me. Never saw it coming when I brought the pole down on his head."

Jay scowled. "I thought the idea was to teach them to defend themselves."

"How are they supposed to learn if you don't give them a few injuries?" Sachi asked, gathering bamboo poles. "I'm not gentle like you."

"Just because I don't break bones doesn't make me gentle with them," Jay warned. "And how are they supposed to come back for more lessons if they can't walk? Or think, for that matter." Jay heard Sachi gasp. Her brow furrowed. "What's the matter, Sach?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sachi spluttered. Jay felt unease form in her stomach like a large, cold stone. "Sachi?" she asked in a small voice. It wasn't often that Jay got scared, but there was always a good reason when she did.

"Jay, go back to the village," Sachi ordered in a low voice.

"Why?" she asked, straining her ears. She could hear distant wingbeats, but that was hardly unusual. She heard hawks flying all the time.

"Just go," Sachi snapped. Jay could hear him slowly backing away. She trembled. Either something was horribly wrong with Sachi or something _horribly wrong_ was approaching the village. _Not possible_, she thought firmly. _My ears are as good as a bat's. No way something could sneak past me._

The wingbeats were growing closer. "Jay, Run!" Sachi bellowed. This time, Jay did as she was told. She took off full-speed towards the village. She could beat any man, woman, or child in a footrace, but this time she was too slow. Something swooped down close to her head and landed right in front of her. She tried to skid to a stop three seconds too late. With a loud 'thud' she slammed into something with the full force of her run. She felt hot breath on her face from a gigantic creature standing right in front of her as she lay on the ground, stunned. She dimly heard Sachi yelling for her to move. But she couldn't. She had lost the control of her limbs. All she could do was lie there and wait…but for what?

Sesshomaru's POV

Sesshomaru loved the feel of the wind in his hair as Ah-Un sped through the sky, following Tsume and Sesshomaru's father, the Inutaisho. They were passing a human village on their way towards the Inutaisho's favorite hunting grounds when Sesshomaru spotted the disturbance. Many human males were trying to harm a single female. Sesshomaru yelled for his father. "Father, look!" he shouted, pointing below. The female was fending off every male with fierce concentration. His father peered down at the scene. "What are they doing?" Sesshomaru asked, raising his voice to be heard over Ah-Un and Tsume's loud wingbeats.

"I don't know," the Inutaisho replied carefully, reigning Tsume in and telling him to circle the field where the fight was taking place. Sesshomaru did the same, watching the female with wide, worried eyes.

It was all he could do to stop Ah-Un from diving down and murdering the males. There had once been a stable master who'd beaten them with a poison whip. Sesshomaru's father had killed the stable master, but Ah-Un still felt very strongly towards violence. To them, watching a female being attacked by several males was torture. They wanted to help her. After a while it became apparent that the female wasn't in any danger. She blocked every blow almost before they happened. But Ah and Un were still fighting Sesshomaru's control. They growled and snapped their jaws at Sesshomaru's legs.

"Look!" he ordered them, fighting to gain control as he pointed down to the female. The males had broken away from her and were trudging away, obviously defeated. The female was breathing hard but otherwise unharmed. She turned to a large male on the other side of the field as he called out. The large male was collecting poles from the ground.

Ah-Un watched the large male tensely, waiting to see if he would attack the female like the others had. But they appeared to be friends, talking together like they were. The female even gave him a short sniff before pointing in the direction of a large pond. "See?" Sesshomaru soothed. "She's fine."

But Ah-Un dived anyway. They needed to be _sure _that she wasn't injured. Sesshomaru heard his father curse before urging Tsume to follow his son. The large man turned and saw them. His face paled considerably. The female ran towards the village, but Ah-Un swooped down close to her head and landed in front of her. She slammed into them and landed on her back, staring blankly at the sky. Ah-Un sniffed her all over for injuries. The female didn't move. She was having trouble getting her breath back.

Sesshomaru stared at her. She was pretty, dressed in a simple brown kimono. She had black hair and bright blue eyes…_sightless_ blue eyes, he realized. He looked at her in awe. This female was blind!


	3. Chosen

Chapter Three: Chosen

Sesshomaru's POV

Sesshomaru was still shocked as he watched Ah nudge the female with his muzzle while Un sniffed her all over. The large man, who had been yelling for the female to get up and move, fell silent as Tsume and Sesshomaru's father landed next to Sesshomaru and Ah-Un. "What happened?" his father asked tensely, swiftly dismounting Tsume to stand by the female's head.

Sesshomaru didn't reply. Instead, he watched as the female blinked twice before slowly standing up and facing Sesshomaru's father. "She is blind," Sesshomaru stated bluntly. The Inutaisho moved his hand back and forth in front of her face slowly, causing the female to jerk away from him, still breathing heavily from the fight. Sesshomaru looked her over one more time and saw that her feet were very muddy. He sniffed around her discreetly as he slid off Ah-Un's back. He smelled mud, an old dog, the milk-scent of a cat with kittens, and…a scent close to cinnamon. He looked at her in surprise as he finally found her natural scent. He breathed deeply, enjoying it, never noticing that his father was watching him curiously.

Jay's POV

"What happened?"

The voice was deep, much deeper than Sachi's voice. Jay fought back a tremble as she slowly stood and turned to face the location where the voice was coming from. She could hear Sachi breathing several feet behind her. Tension crackled in the air like lightning before a child's voice remarked, "She is blind." Jay relaxed, somewhat. If this man had a child with him, he might leave her, Sachi, and the village alone. Then she heard the sound of someone inhaling deeply, followed closely by a sigh.

"Sachi," she said in a low, strained voice, "tell me what's going on." She heard slow, heavy footsteps from behind her; Sachi's footsteps. He slowly took hold of one arm and pulled her behind him protectively.

"These two are youkai," he hissed. "They're riding on dragons!"

_Dragons?_ Jay remembered the warm, scaly bulk of the creature she had crashed into and gasped, eyes widening. "We mean you no harm," the man with the deep voice assured them. "We were simply investigating."

"Maybe you should investigate elsewhere," Sachi growled. Compared to the youkai's voice, it sounded high-pitched. Jay squeezed his arm warningly. Even Sachi, who was built like a bear, couldn't defeat a youkai with a dragon. "We're simple folks here. Don't want any trouble."

"Neither do we," the youkai said. "But there was an…incident that called for our immediate landing."

"You're not injured," Jay pointed out, and winced as she felt the youkais' attention snap towards her fiercely.

"How do you know this?" the older youkai asked quietly, taking a step closer to them. In return, Sachi gave her a rough shove backwards before following her.

Jay thought and blurted, "Because Keiko says that youkai don't get injured. She says it's just humans."

The older youkai laughed softly. "That's where you're wrong, ningen," he told her. "Youkai are always getting injured. We simply heal faster than humans do. Like yourself, yes?" Jay stared at him. Was he insinuating that she wasn't human? She felt herself break into a cold sweat, and, even though she was careful to keep her face set into a stone mask, her mind was reeling. _How much does he know?_

Sesshomaru's POV

Sesshomaru tilted his head to the side at the very slight edge in his father's voice. He inhaled deeply again. Her smell was cleaner and brighter than most humans', true, but he couldn't detect anything else that was different about her other than her blindness. He looked from his father to the female and back to his father. He frowned. He didn't think his father would hurt the female, but he didn't want to take any chances, so he walked forward, eyes trained on the female, and stated, "You smell nice. Like cinnamon, almost."

His father's eyes widened as he looked at his son. Sesshomaru looked up at the Inutaisho, chin lifted stubbornly. For a few heartbeats, father and son stared at each other. The Inutaisho's lips curved upward into a pleased smile at the importance of his son's actions, and he nodded to Sesshomaru before swiftly appearing at the large man's side and pressing hard on the junction between his shoulder and neck. The large man crumpled to the ground, and the female knelt beside him.

"What did you do to him?" she gasped, rolling him onto his back. She put her ear against his chest and listened to his heartbeat before trying to wake him up. "Sachi! Sachi, come on. Sachi, wake up. Sachi!"

Sesshomaru's father lifted the female up by the tops of her arms and set her on her feet, gently. The female stiffened and trembled. "My son has chosen you," he informed her quietly. "You shall travel to the Western Fortress with us and it shall be your new home. We will stop by your home and collect your things before we depart from this village."

**For some reason, all my chapters end with cliffhangers. Please Read and Review.**


	4. Leaving Home

Chapter Four  
**  
**Jay's POV

Jay was absolutely numb as she gently lifted Poppy and the kittens into a large basket with a blanket cushioning the bottom. She could feel two sets of eyes watching her closely as she laid all four kittens next to their mother's belly. The youkai hadn't given her a moment alone since she'd met them in the field. They'd been watching her like hawks. The older youkai was standing in the doorway of her shed, while the younger one crouched right beside her, watching everything she did. It was very unsettling.

Tahoi, who had been growling continuously ever since the youkai had set foot in the shed, paced at the very back of the shed, occasionally darting murderous glances at the young youkai next to Jay. "Be nice, Tahoi," she muttered, knowing that he would hear it. He whined plaintively and came to stand by her side.

She was being forced to follow the two youkai, who had introduced themselves as Lord Inutaisho and Lord Sesshomaru, to their home, the Western Fortress. As they had paraded her through the village towards the shed, not one villager had offered to help Jay. They had just stood there and watched them and ushered their children indoors. "I like your dog," Lord Sesshomaru informed her.

"Don't touch him," Jay said stiffly. "He'll kill you." She heard Lord Inutaisho snort, and she hissed under her breath as she stood, everything packed. "Just wait," she muttered under her breath. "One day when you're not expecting it…"

Sesshomaru's POV

The female, who had revealed herself to be Jay, had threatened Sesshomaru. It was clear that she did not intend to stay with him. Sesshomaru was vaguely disappointed. He liked Jay; she smelled nice, and her dog was nice, too, even though the mutt was currently growling unhappily at the lordling. The scent of the cat and kittens didn't really bother him. Because Jay's scent covered most of the cat-scent, it wasn't too bad.

Sesshomaru stood when Jay did, watching her with interest. She was the first blind person—human or youkai—that he'd ever met, but she didn't seem to have trouble walking around. She never bumped into anything, and she never tripped over rocks or brambles or anything when they were outside. "Are you ready?" Sesshomaru's father asked impatiently. He was standing at the door of the shed, looking outside.

"No; but you aren't really giving me a choice," Jay said glumly, leaning down to pick up the basket holding the cats. She followed his father outside.

"The Western Fortress isn't bad," Sesshomaru tried to soothe her. "You can have nicer kimonos and a maid and we can play everyday. And there's a garden, too, and a pond."

Jay didn't reply, not even when he told her that they could visit the dragons. Tahoi padded along beside her, panting companionably. Sesshomaru's brow furrowed. He wondered what was wrong. Maybe the basket was too heavy for her? She walked forward solidly, her face stony and shuttered. Something was definitely wrong. And Sesshomaru wanted to find out what.


	5. Afraid of Heights

Chapter Five

Sesshomaru's POV

Jay refused to ride Ah-Un, even though her feet were bleeding from hours of fast-paced walking. Sesshomaru watched her unhappily, trying to figure out how to make a blind human ride a two-headed dragon. She was clearly exhausted: her head was drooping, and she was walking with her eyes closed. Sesshomaru heard his father sigh; it had taken only an hour to get to Jay's village by dragon, but on foot they'd already been travelling for three hours. Furthermore, there was no path. They had to walk on thorns and other prickly undergrowth. Jay didn't complain, but she kept wincing.

Ah-Un was walking right at her back, growling softly and nudging her with their heads comfortingly. She tried to shrug them off, but they didn't leave her alone. An idea struck Sesshomaru. He didn't need her to _agree_ to fly on Ah-Un; he just needed her to fly on Ah-Un. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her on top of Ah-Un, seating himself behind her. "Fly," he ordered his dragon. His father grinned as he mounted Tsume. As soon as Jay felt the ground drop away from them, she screeched. Sesshomaru put a hand on her shoulder to calm her, only to have her throw herself at him and wrap her arms around his neck, trembling. "Are you afraid?" he inquired, concerned.

"Let me down, let me down," she pleaded, her voice muffled by the neck of his clothes.

"You aren't going to fall," he comforted her, trying to pry her arms away from him. She was surprisingly strong.

"It would appear that your human is a coward," the Inutaisho laughed, urging Tsume to fly as close to Ah-Un as possible.

"I'm not a coward," Jay snapped, not moving her face. "If humans were supposed to fly, we'd have been born with wings."

"Yes, but you're no human, are you?" Sesshomaru's father said carefully. Sesshomaru felt Jay stiffen.

"I _am_ human," she whispered. It was clear that she hadn't intended for anyone to hear, so Sesshomaru said nothing. His father simply shrugged and flew on towards the Western Fortress, leaving Sesshomaru to deal with Jay as best he could.

**Please Read & Review. Thank you!**


	6. Arrival

Chapter Six

Jay's POV

By the time they reached the "Western Fortress" that Sesshomaru kept talking about, Jay's stomach felt like jelly; she was ready to vomit whatever she'd had for breakfast that morning. Flying was so _terrifying._ It was almost like being thrown through the air by an invisible giant. She hadn't moved from the position she'd taken earlier: clutching at Sesshomaru with all the strength in her body, which, surprisingly enough, was quite strong.

"We're here," Sesshomaru told her. She slowly unlocked her arms from around his neck.

"Where is 'here'?" she asked tensely. She could hear light feet running and low voices murmuring, but she couldn't catch anything distinct. Whoever—or whatever—was surrounding her were experts at staying quiet.

Then, out of nowhere, she could hear the breathing of two people standing very close to the dragon she was sitting on. "It would seem that you caught more than prey on your hunt," a deep voice mused. Jay tensed. That she hadn't heard him approach was a very bad sign.

"You left the fortress to go hunting for a human _girl_?" a high-pitched, whiny voice snapped.

Jay felt offended immediately; she wasn't a girl, really. Most people in the village called her a young adult. She was at least thirteen winters old; well, that's what Sachi's wife told her, anyways.

"Her name is Jay," Sesshomaru said, a distinct edge to his voice. "She is blind. She's going to be staying with me."

Sesshomaru's POV

Sesshomaru didn't like the way Sensei was glaring at Jay. He looked at her like she was beneath his notice, when he should know that anyone Sesshomaru noticed was akin to royalty as far as he was concerned. The stablemaster, on the other hand, was grinning at Sesshomaru. When he noticed the young lord looking at him, he bowed deeply. "Of course, m'lord," he chuckled.

"But where are you going to put her?" Sensei insisted. "She can't possibly stay in our pavilion. And the Lady of the West certainly won't welcome her, either."

"Leave the Lady of the West to me," Sesshomaru's father interrupted, walking over to them with Jay's dog, Tahoi, slung neatly over his shoulder. The dog was snarling and trying to bite at him. When he saw Jay sitting on top of Ah-Un, he whined once and then gave a low, rough bark. The Inutaisho rolled his eyes and set him on the ground. "I have a feeling she'll be a bit calmer if I tell her."

"But where will she stay?" Sensei asked. He shot Jay another nasty look, and the girl flinched as though she could see it. "We have no—"

"She'll stay with me," Sesshomaru said simply. He reached up and tugged Jay's hand; she nearly fell off Ah-Un. On her way down, she slung an arm over Un's neck to support herself. "Are you okay?" he asked, brow furrowing.

She took a minute to answer, wiggling her bare toes and wincing. Then she looked at him and replied, "I can't feel my legs. They're numb."

"Do you need someone to carry you?" the Inutaisho asked, almost, but not quite, sarcastic.

"_NO!_" she nearly shouted, anchoring herself more firmly against the dragon. "No thanks," she added, her voice a bit quieter. "I'm fine. Really."

"You just want to keep your feet on the ground," the Inutaisho said smugly.

"How'd you guess?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. Her big blue eyes were just a touch too innocent. "I've only been hyperventilating for the entire flight, after all." Tahoi nudged her leg, growling, and she dropped her hand to the top of his head. The growl stopped in his throat instantly.

The Inutaisho rolled his eyes. "Sesshomaru, escort your human to your chambers," he ordered. "And fetch a maid to give your human a bath," he added as he walked away. "She smells bad."

Jay's gaze sharpened on his back. "I am _NOT_ a pet!" she hissed. "I do not belong to anybody."

"Come on," Sesshomaru chided softly, pulling her forward. Sensei followed a few steps behind, still grumbling. "Father says you need a bath. And you do smell like cat."

**Okay, I know it's been a long wait, but I really like this chapter. Please Read and Review!**


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